


Bowling for Troubles

by Sollux_Kleinman



Category: Dear Evan Hansen - Pasek & Paul/Levenson
Genre: Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Arguing, Bullying, Comfort, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friendship, M/M, Teasing, bowling
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 17:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17207765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sollux_Kleinman/pseuds/Sollux_Kleinman
Summary: Evan is bowling with his friends, until he sees something that troubles him one lane over.





	Bowling for Troubles

“Your turn, Ev!” Alana called, grabbing a handful of fries as she sat back down at the table.

“Kill ‘em!” Zoe told him before leaning her head on her girlfriend’s shoulder.

Evan chuckled nervously before getting up and grabbing the 14 pound bowling ball from the rack. Carefully, he stepped up and threw the ball, only hitting two pins.

He heard Alana and Zoe cheer for him and he smiled, glad to have friends that backed him up even if he did completely suck at bowling. 

On his second try, he managed to hit down three pins, which sparked even more excited cheering from Alana and Zoe.

“And to think, you didn’t even know how to bowl when this night began.” Zoe smiled. “I take all the credit, I’m just a great teacher.”

Alana rolled her eyes before pushing up her glasses on her face, “You seem to be forgetting the part where I helped more than you.”

“Or maybe Evan just has natural talent.” Zoe winked at Evan, getting up for her turn.

Evan chuckled, “I don’t think it’s that.”

“So, you’ve really never-“

Alana was cut off by loud wooing from the table beside them. In the line directly next to theirs was a group of boys that seemed to be celebrating something.

In the crowd, Evan recognized Jared Kleinman.

For a second, Evan gaped at him, he had never really seen Jared out of school, aside from the couple times the boy’s parents had invited him and his mother to dinner. Now, he saw Jared argue loudly with his friends, each boy trying to out talk each other.

Alana huffed, “Honestly, they don’t need to be so loud.”

“Yeah.” Evan said quietly, eyes still trained on Jared.

Zoe frustratedly sat back down in her seat, “Hello! I just got a spare! No cheering! No kisses from my girlfriend! Nothing!” 

Alana laughed and placed a kiss on Zoe’s cheek before getting up, “Sorry, love.”

“We got distracted.” Evan said, finally prying his eyes away from Jared.

“Clearly.” Zoe picked at the fry basket. “Hey, do you like the burnt ones? Cause I don’t want them.”

“No, I’m not hungry.” Evan replied.

“I’ll eat them.” Alana said, sitting back down. As Evan stood for his turn, he noticed Jared was up in his lane. The boy strode forward, getting ready when suddenly he tripped, seemingly on nothing, and face-planted into the floor.

Evan flinched, his first instinct was to run down and help Jared, but the boy was up before then, wiping a bloody nose and laughing it off while all his friends died of laughter. 

“Hey Jared, maybe you need a lighter ball!” One boy called, making the others laugh more. Jared was red and scratching the back of his neck, but he still played along, laughing with the group.

Tentatively, Evan made his way down to the lane, getting ready to bowl. Beside him, Jared attempted to redo his bowl.

“Hit the floor again and you won’t have enough brain cells to bowl anymore!” Another boy called just as Jared let go of the ball. The sudden noise caused Jared to twitch, sending the ball into the gutter.

“Looks like it already happened!” A red headed boy laughed. 

“Oh shut up, Thomas, we all know you’re taking eleventh grade English for the second time.” Jared smiled, throwing himself into one of the chairs. Evan noticed Jared tapped his foot impatiently.

“Maybe you’ll have to retake twelfth grade English from the looks of that fall.” The boy, Thomas, leaned over and grabbed Jared’s head, shaking the boy. “Maybe if we shake your head hard enough the few remaining brain cells you have will fall out!” The boy’s at the table laughed.

“Hey-“ Jared tried to yank free, but now all the boys were shaking Jared’s head, laughing loudly and making crude jokes.

Evan’s fists balled up as he watched the scene and he stormed over to the group. As the boy’s saw him approach, most stopped in confusion.

“What do you want?” The tallest boy demanded.

“I just wanted to invite Jared to come bowl with us.” Evan said simply, chin raised high in an attempt to show confidence. In reality, he could feel his entire body shaking in terror.

All eyes turned to Jared, whose nose bleed had returned from all the shaking. Jared looked over at Evan.

“Yeah, sure.” Jared said in a small voice, which Evan thought was very unlike him. Slowly, the two boys returned back to Alana and Zoe, who were smiling gleefully as they sat down.

As Alana programmed Jared into their game, Evan leaned over to Jared. “They’re a rotten crowd, you’re worth the whole damn bunch put together!” He whispered.

This earned him a chuckled from Jared, “Thank you, Evan.” He said, attempting to control his bloody nose with napkins.

“Anytime.” Evan said. 

Sometime later, Evan found Jared’s hand resting on his thigh. Carefully, he took it in his own. The two boys held hands, not saying a word.


End file.
